031 – Issues for the Pastorless Church [Podcast]

A listener question

Welcome to Season 1 Episode 31 of the Your Church Matters podcast. In this week’s episode I addressed a second issue brought up by a listener question from Karl: “Why another church, especially when there are churches in the area that are searching for a pastor or do not have a permanent pastor?”

Great question! In fact it is such a great question that it is supercharged and loaded with at least 3 issues that I am choosing to address in 3 separate episodes. Here are the issues I have identified in the question and my plan to respond to them:

1. Why is the church pastorless?– The circumstances under which the previous pastor left will have influence on how the church transitions into its next chapter.

2. How long has the church been pastorless? – The longer the time between pastors, the greater the risk for the church to lose outward focus, momentum, and unity.

3. How have the roles of other church staff and leaders been affected while the office of senior pastor has been vacant? – Sometimes taking on new responsibilities temporarily can lead to a lack of clarity later.

4. What is the church’s understanding of the role of the pastor? – This has a significant impact on how the church conducts itself during the pastorless season.

5. What is the church’s reputation in the community? – Prospective pastors want to know and have a right to know.

10 Mistakes Pastorless Churches Make (and recommendations for avoiding them). I unpack this in my ebook by the same name that is available for purchase in my online resource store.

Special Offer: If you email me a request for this ebook and let me know you heard about it on the podcast, I will email you a copy for free.